Defensive Shield chief set for ADC oration
THE Israeli officer who was the architect of Operation Defensive Shield in 2002 at the height of the Second Intifada will speak about the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) and its commitment to a moral code when he delivers this year’s B’nai B’rith Anti-Defamation Commission (ADC) Gandel Oration in Melbourne and Sydney next week.
THE Israeli officer who was the architect of Operation Defensive Shield in 2002 at the height of the Second Intifada will speak about the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) and its commitment to a moral code when he delivers this year’s B’nai B’rith Anti-Defamation Commission (ADC) Gandel Oration in Melbourne and Sydney next week.
Brigadier General Gal Hirsch has had 25 years of experience commanding IDF infantry, paratrooper and commando forces and has personally led special forces units, battalions, brigades and divisions in fighting Israel’s enemies.
In 2002, he devised, planned and led the IDF in its large-scale operations against terror, Operation Defensive Shield, following the Netanya Park Hotel seder-night suicide bombing.
The Israeli operation, which focused on six West Bank cities harbouring large numbers of terrorists, made front-page headlines, with British and European media drawing on fabricated Palestinian accounts that alleged a “massacre” had taken place in Jenin.
A subsequent United Nations investigation concluded that in fact no “massacre” had occurred, with IDF accounts placing the Palestinian civilian death toll in Jenin at seven or eight.
An ADC spokesperson said Hirsch, a firm adherent to the IDF’s behavioural codes in combat situations, views those standards as “our strength and not our weakness. In civilised societies, war and violence are not admirable ideals but necessary evils. Left uncontrolled they generate violence that can destroy a society.
“Gal will share the spirit and moral values which should stand as the foundation of all of the activities of every IDF soldier,” the spokesperson said.
The father of three authored War Story, Love Story, an autobiography, in which he wrote about his attachment to Israel even at times of peril. During his military service, Hirsch was critically wounded in an enemy ambush, was rehabilitated, and returned to the battlefield.
For a considerable period, while commanding the IDF Officer’s School, he devoted himself to the education of the IDF Officer’s Corps, developing military leadership and instructing and training its combat commanders.
Hirsch is regarded worldwide as an expert in strategic knowledge development, and has written numerous papers on doctrinal issues.
The ADC Gandel Oration will take place at Moriah College on Wednesday, October 17 at 7.45pm. For bookings, go to www.antidef.org.au.
AJN STAFF
Brigadier General Gal Hirsch will deliver this year’s Gandel Oration.
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